MANILA — Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), corporations, government agencies and financial institutions from across Southeast Asia gathered in Manila for a regional forum focused on helping businesses adopt greener practices and build more sustainable supply chains.
The Green Growth Regional Exchange, held Sept. 15, brought together representatives of SME development agencies, training and coaching organizations, corporations, SMEs, government agencies, financial institutions, and development partners.
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, or ESCAP, and Temasek Foundation presented the one-day forum with the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines. First Philippine Holdings Corp. and CIMB Malaysia supported the event.
Held under the theme “Coaching SMEs for Green Growth: Enabling Corporates and Southeast Asia to Meet Sustainability Goals,” the forum focused on a key challenge facing the region: helping smaller businesses meet the growing sustainability requirements of large companies and their supply chains.
While many large corporations have set sustainability targets, many SMEs still lack the information, skills, financing and market access needed to shift to greener business practices.
The exchange aimed to strengthen SME development agencies and training organizations so they can better coach small businesses through the green transition, improve their sustainability performance and connect them with larger corporate buyers.
“There will be no green transition without SMEs. By equipping small businesses with the skills, partnerships and tools they need to become more sustainable, we can accelerate climate action while creating new opportunities for growth, jobs and competitiveness across the region,” said Shombi Sharp, deputy executive secretary of ESCAP.
James Chan, head of the Programmes Office and Resilient Societies at Temasek Foundation, said sustainability should not be treated simply as another business requirement.
“SMEs are the heart of our economies. We believe sustainability should not simply be another requirement to meet. It should also make business sense,” Chan said.
Through the partnership among ESCAP, DTI and SME Corp., he said the Green Shift program aims to help SMEs turn sustainability goals into practical action plans, strengthen their competitiveness and access new markets.
Assistant Secretary Grace F. Baluyan of DTI's Regional Operations Group said large companies cannot meet their sustainability commitments without the smaller enterprises that keep supply chains running.
“Corporate sustainability commitments cannot be achieved in isolation from the thousands of smaller enterprises that supply, manufacture, transport, package, service, and distribute the products on which our economies depend,” Baluyan said.
She said governments, financial institutions, corporations, development partners and SME support organizations must work together to create conditions that allow small businesses to make the transition.
The exchange marked the first regional gathering under the Green Shift program, a joint initiative of ESCAP and Temasek Foundation that seeks to accelerate the green transition of SMEs in Malaysia, the Philippines and across Southeast Asia.
In the Philippines, DTI is implementing the program through its Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development and the Philippine Trade Training Center.
A high-level panel on green supply chains brought together representatives from Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to discuss policies, innovations and partnerships that can help businesses adopt greener models.
Participants also joined an interactive workshop on the SME coaching process and explored the SME Coaching Toolkit for Green Growth, developed under the program.
The toolkit is designed to help SME agencies and training organizations guide businesses in developing practical green action plans.
Other sessions examined how corporations can work with SMEs in their supply chains to meet sustainability targets and how SMEs can present their green credentials to potential corporate clients.
Sector panels focused on manufacturing; agriculture and food; construction; and services, including transport, logistics and tourism.
The event also created networking opportunities for SMEs, corporations and business support organizations to explore potential partnerships.
The exchange closed with a discussion on expanding SME coaching and developing greener supply chains across the region, drawing on the experiences of SME development agencies and training institutions from the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Green Shift program will continue supporting SME development agencies in Malaysia and the Philippines as they coach businesses on green action plans and connect them with corporate buyers.
The program will also share lessons from its 2026 pilot with additional countries and partners across Southeast Asia. PR
